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Beacon Arts News, April 28, 2011

‘The Great American Popular Singers’

CAMDEN — Michael Lund, in another in a series of musical presentations on American music, will offer “The Great American Popular Singers” at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at the Camden Public Library. He will highlight the music of Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, with recordings and stories of their careers with Capitol and Decca Records. Lund also will visit the careers of George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Sammy Cahn, Jerome Kern, Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Marty Paich, and more.

Lund is the founder of Serendipity Records and has delivered illustrated music talks all over the United States at schools, historical societies and especially on radio broadcasts. He regularly writes music criticism for major record companies. He frequently presents musical programs at the library, including a harp concert in 2008, a talk on Paul Robeson and other talks on American popular music. There will be recordings of the singers available at the talk for those who are interested. The talk will include time for questions and answers.

For more information, call the library at 236-3440.

Poetry reading

ROCKPORT — The Rockport Public Library announced a poetry reading in honor of National Poetry Month at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 28, in the library’s Marine Room. Local poets Barbara Furey, Carol W. Bachofner and Zibette Dean will read. Call the library at 236-3642 for more information or visit www.rockport.lib.me.us to see a full program description and a calendar of events.

Animal portrait exhibit

ROCKPORT — Beginning on Monday, May 2, the Children’s Room at the Rockport Public Library will have a display of animal portraits by Judith Grossman to celebrate “Be Kind to Animals Week.”

Judith and Norman Grossman moved to Rockport 20 years ago. While Judy always has painted, she has switched in the last three years from watercolor and pastel to acrylics. She studied color and fashion design but is a mostly self-taught painter.

When they lived in Tenants Harbor, Judy was part of an artists’ group and exhibited in several shows there. She now will be displaying her paintings at her business, Judith Grossman Decorator (formerly Golden Hand), in the Downeast Homes building, 439 Commercial St. (Route 1) in Rockport.

The library (1 Limerock St.) will host an opening reception 5-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 4. Refreshments will be served.

Cleanup volunteers sought

SEARSPORT — Penobscot Marine Museum has scheduled Spring Cleanup and Volunteer Day on Saturday, May 14. Volunteers will spend the day working alongside other friendly, energetic people while helping prepare the museum for the opening of its 75th year. Breakfast and lunch will be served, and participants will learn about long-term volunteer positions in many departments.

“It will be a day of good fun and productive work,” said Bob Holtzman, the museum’s volunteer coordinator. “Folks should come prepared to work hard, get dirty and meet others who support one of the Midcoast’s premier cultural institutions.”

Depending upon the weather, workers may help prepare the grounds and gardens, clean interior areas, prep woodwork for painting, change light bulbs, move boats and other heavy objects, and work on “roughly 536 other projects,” according to Holtzman. He urged people to bring rakes, brooms, rags, buckets, paint scrapers, step ladders, pickup trucks and anything else that might come in handy.

The event starts with free breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m. Lunch will be served, and renowned boat builder Ralph Stanley and friends will provide live music. Museum staff also will discuss ongoing opportunities for volunteers in several departments, including administration, library-archives, curatorial, education, marketing and visitor services.

The museum requests but does not require that those who wish to participate preregister. Scout groups, service organizations and local businesses with service programs are especially encouraged to register. Contact Bob Holtzman at 548-2529, ext. 208, or bholtzman@pmm-maine.org.

Prey featured in book

PORT CLYDE — Barbara Ernst Prey is included in the just-released book “100 Artists of New England.” Five of her classic Maine images are reproduced, and she graces the book’s cover. Prey is a painter of international scope, with roots going back to early 1700s New England. As author Ashley Rooney notes, “Prey’s paintings of Maine and New England have been exhibited in New York and Europe, most recently in a Paris retrospective. They are included in museum collections such as The Brooklyn Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum and The White House. American embassies abroad including Paris, Madrid, Prague and Oslo have also exhibited the New England paintings.”

As one of the key figures of 21st-century landscape painting, Prey was appointed by the President of the United States to the National Council on the Arts, the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Arts. Members are chosen for their established record of distinguished service and achievement in the arts. Prey’s painting “Lineleader” currently is on exhibit in the office of the chairman at the National Endowment for the Arts. She is featured in “The Artist’s Role in the Community: Six Perspectives,” a video by the National Endowment for the Arts, and in the NEA Arts Magazine, which writes, “In this video, we hear from a unique group of artists and art administrators, including innovative musician Andrew Bird and renowned painter Barbara Ernst Prey, on ways artists affect and change the communities they live and work in.”

“100 Artists of New England” may be purchased on the Internet and in bookstores. Prey’s artwork may be viewed at www.barbaraprey.com.